Covering the Intersection of Sports and the Law
Mark Ecke, the extraordinarily successful football coach at Cheshire High School, resigned this week rather than face a hearing before the Board of Education over his proposed termination. Ecke had been suspended since a junior varsity lacrosse game on May 3, during which his son was injured after a violent hit, triggering Ecke to reportedly scold the referees. Local [...]
The case of Marist College v. Matt Brady concluded last week, with a jury finding that Brady, Marist’s former men’s basketball coach, breached his contract with the college when he accepted the same position at James Madison University (JMU) without Marist’s permission. In addition, Brady and/or his staff recruited players to JMU that they had previously recruited to attend Marist, [...]
A verdict was handed down in the case of Marist v. Brady yesterday. The jury found that Marist’s former basketball coach, Matt Brady, breached his contract when he left Marist to coach at James Madison University (JMU), however the jury awarded no damages. According to Sean McCann of the Poughkeepsie Journal, Marist claimed the following damages [...]
Last fall, I published a post entitled When Can a School Take Away Your Scholarship?, covering the basic NCAA rules on the cancellation or reduction of athletic scholarships. To follow-up on this theme, I have provided an analysis of a more specific issue: the cancellation or reduction of a scholarship during the academic year. You are a scholarship [...]
Coach and Athletic Director magazine recently featured my article covering the various legal issues facing coaches running sports camps. I have addressed contract, business, liability, employment and compliance issues. Click on the following link to view the article: Address Legal Issues Before Starting a Summer Camp. My sincere thanks to Michael Austin, Editor-In-Chief of Coach and [...]
In August 2010, I published an article in Sports Litigation Alert concerning a potentially precedent-setting case in the business of collegiate athletics. The article, entitled A Beacon in Poughkeepsie: Marist Claims Victory Over James Madison in Coaching Contract Suit, discussed the judgment of default that entered against James Madison University (JMU). The article also spoke to [...]
Last week in my sports law class at Quinnipiac Law School, we discussed the state of collegiate coaching contracts. I began the class by sharing one of my favorite quotes on the topic. In 2009, Jim Harbaugh, then coach of Stanford University, discussed his new contract extension with the university. When asked if the contract [...]
James K. Gentry and Raquel Meyer Alexander published an excellent piece on coaching contracts in college football in the New York Times SportsSunday feature. The article, entitled “From the Sideline to the Bottom Line”, discusses how coaching contracts have evolved from handshake deals to complicated agreements. Here’s an excerpt from the article: A review of [...]
